Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken

This Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken is simple and easy to make in the pressure cooker and perfect for busy weeknights. The chicken cooks up tender and juicy in a buttery lemon garlic sauce.

Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken

Hey everyone! It’s Kelly back again from Life Made Sweeter here to share an easy Instant Pot dinner recipe. With two little ones that keep me busy all day, I don’t always have time to prep ahead when it comes to dinner. That’s why I am such a big fan of the Instant Pot and use it regularly at our house.

This Lemon Garlic Chicken is tender, juicy and full of flavor. And the best part is that dinner can be on the table in just 30 minutes with the help of a trusty pressure cooker.

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HOW DO YOU MAKE LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN:

Start off by seasoning the chicken thighs with some salt, black pepper and garlic powder.

Next, you’re going to brown the chicken in the Instant Pot (I use an Instant Pot DUO 6 Quart) using the sauté function. Searing the chicken helps to seal in those amazing flavors and gives the chicken that crispy coating.

Place the chicken back in the Instant Pot, seal the lid and pressure cook for 5 minutes.

WHAT SIDES CAN I SERVE WITH THIS LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN?

This chicken would go well with so many sides. I chose to serve it with some roasted asparagus since it’s one of my favorite spring vegetables but broccoli, zucchini or cauliflower would be delicious as well.

This Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken is a quick and easy dish bursting with bright and fresh flavors. It’s perfect for spring and any busy weeknight!

Press the Sauté function (Normal setting) on the Instant Pot (I used a 6 Quart DUO) and add the olive oil to the pot.

Place chicken in the Instant Pot and allow to sear on each side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. This helps to seal in the juices and keep it tender. (You may have to work in batches depending on the size and amount of chicken you are using). Once browned, remove from Instant Pot and set aside.

It will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure and start counting down.

When done, allow to naturally release for 2-3 minutes then using a long spoon push the valve to RELEASE, then remove your Instant Pot lid.

(**If you want to thicken the sauce - make a cornstarch slurry using 1 teaspoon of cornstarch whisked with 2 teaspoons cold water and stir in the Instant Pot. Press SAUTE and allow to bubble and thicken up. )

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve hot with your favorite sides. Spoon sauce over chicken and garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

Notes

**I use ⅓ cup of broth combined with the juice from the lemon in my 6 Quart Instant Pot DUO with no problems or *burning sign - if needed you can increase the amount of liquid if this combination doesn't work for your Instant Pot model

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Kelly is the blogger behind Life Made Sweeter. She is a self-taught baker and loves using her slow cooker. You can often find her in the kitchen dreaming up tasty new dishes that are quick and easy to make for her family. She also enjoys adding a fun and healthy twist to many classic favorites.

Hi Alysssa, Just found your site also I just bought my first “Instant Pot” yesterday and I’m excited to use it. I’ve had a pressure cooker for years, but decided to “get with it” and up-grade. I’m also on “Keto” so now I’m on the look-out for whatever recipes you can give us that’s on the “Keto” and “Instant Pot” plan. I’ve just put some chicken thighs in to defrost and ready to make this lovely “Lemon Garlic Chicken” for dinner tonight since I have all the ingredients on hand. Not that I’ve made this as yet, but I’m sure it deserves some stars already, hopefully I can do it justice for you.

The chicken was soooo tender! Great flavor! Make some steamed vegetables and it was a perfect meal! I bought my pressure cooker about 3 weeks ago and it is the only thing I have cooked with since then! Thanks for another great recipe that is super easy to add to my list!

Whenever possible, I use the butterfly method to make chicken breast more tender, flavorful and juicy. Cut the breast horizontally from the thicker side and open it like a book. Place a piece of plastic wrap over top and hammer the chicken with a rolling pin or something similar until it’s the same thickness all over. You can then cut it into smaller pieces, depending on the recipe. This would be an option for those who don’t want to use chicken thighs in this recipe. The butterfly method works great for any quick-cook recipe like chicken fingers too.

You could do both. I put lemon slices in the instant pot when I cook fish and the whole slice becomes soft and edible. It’s quite delicious. For presentation you could add fresh lemon slices at the end. The flavor bonus is worth doing both!

Very nice recipe. I used bone-in thighs because they are less expensive. I got 4 for $1.81 on sale. Added a squirt of Pinot grigio to help deglaze the pot. Cooked 1/3 cup of basmati rice w 1/3 cup of water w 1/4 tsp salt pot in pot. Added 1 T butter to rice, rubbed it on bottom and side of pot before adding rice and water. PC for 15 min. Natural release. Perfect. Served 2 thighs with pickled beets and a glass of unsweetened almond milk. Two left for tomorrow.

You are welcome to adjust it to your liking for your preferences but the recipe for the chicken breasts should work the same as the recipe states. Hope that helps and you enjoy your instant pot chicken. Thanks for choosing one of my recipes! XOXO

I made this and my family said the chicken didn’t have enough flavor..It was only the second meal i made in the instapot so I’m still learning how to use this kitchen gadget, but i really want to learn how to make my food have more flavor… help???

This was DELISH! Thanks for sharing. I don’t have an instant pot but just a plain old pressure cooker. Came out beautifully and even my 12- year- old gobbled it down! The only change I made was to sub avocado oil for the olive oil as I hear it is better to cook with and stays stable at higher temps. Will put this recipe in permanent rotation. A one pot meal wonder!

May I clarify? In the post it mentions a pressure cook time of 5 minutes, and in the recipe it mentions 8. Which did you use? Also, should I be using low pressure or high pressure? This is the first thing I am trying in my instant pot. Thank you for the recipe!

I just have to say this recipe is the best. It is so hard for me to find something that my whole family will actually eat and likes and this is a definite winner!! It has become one of our go to meals on our biweekly rotation. Thank you so much!!!!

I just made this today as I just got back from vacation and I want to keep it in the fridge for my lunch at work. They came out so good! Easy to make and I love the combination of garlic and lemon. I’ll add some rosemary next time. Thanks for sharing!

I was a bit impatient with the initial browning of the chicken, and can only imagine how awesome this would be if I took my time. That said, this was the best chicken I have made in my Instant Pot, which I use all the time. I licked my plate to be sure I could get every last bit of the onion and garlic in the sauce. Thanks for the recipe!

This was fine for us, I did increase the amount of chicken, broth and lemon juice. to suit the increased amount of meat… my issue is that I think this would be much better served in an enameled dutch oven. The sucs burned in my IP because you really cannot control heat in the IP the way you can on a gas range with a skillet or dutch oven. I added cream whisked with a bit of corn starch and augmented with knob of butter to mellow the dark sucs. I think this is a great buildable recipe that needs some tweaks .

This was delicious. My whole family enjoyed it which is great as all 6 have their own preferences. The lemon added a nice fresh deep flavor and not too acidic. Wonderful. Thank you. This was my first instant pot meal

I made this last night, and it was a major hit. My only problem was that I didn’t realize that I didn’t have any Italian seasoning, so I use “Pride of Szeged Chicken Rub” instead. Boy, it was tasty! Definitely a go-to again, and a really easy recipe for this novice Instant Pot user!!

I just made this instant pot lemon garlic chicken for dinner. My husband & I loved it. I will definitely keep this in my repertoire of chicken dinners for us & will even serve it to company. Thank you for having it in my search menu. Mary Ann K.

This was so good. It was tender and FULL of flavor. So simple and easy to make as well. The only changes I made was I used 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts and cut them in 1/2 lengthwise to make them thinner (I had them on hand and needed to use them before they expired), I added 2 more garlic cloves…because my family loves garlic. I did not have time to make the ‘homemade chicken broth’ so I used 1/3 cup from a carton of chicken stock I had on hand. My Son was home for the weekend from college and loved it so much, he asked me to make it for him to take back with him to his apartment the next day – and he is horribly finicky about food.